Book report for A Field Guide for the Hero's Journey By Jeff Sandefer

This format of the book is one of my favorites. The book teaches lessons via short stories and parables from history. The book expresses life-changing principles in a straightforward manner that if followed would lead to a better life in the long run. Some of my favorite principles taught is that of setting intentions for your life before your hero's journey starts. You then start on the path knowing that there will be roadblocks of different sizes but they are not stop signs. It then also teaches principles of how to ensure meaning in the journey as you work moving forward. I felt like this was a great book to finish the semester off with because I felt like it did a good job highlighting many of the lessons we learned over the semester.

I enjoyed this book, especially because of the stories and anecdotes it shared. I believe that storytelling is one of the best ways to help people learn. Christ himself was a teacher who used parables to reach many people. This book did an excellent job of explaining principles in simple terms and then using various stories, whether from scripture, Greek mythology, or other anecdotes, to help us apply the lessons to our lives. Simply reading a book and learning principles is not enough; we must be willing to apply those principles in our lives to make a difference. Using anecdotes is a great way to help illustrate how to apply the lessons in our personal lives.

Now that you have inspiration and you are excited to make changes in your life you need to slow down a little and decide what you want to have to happen in your life. There have been many who tell the story of attending your own funeral and thinking about what you want to be said about you. I am currently working on what I hope will be said about me when I die eventually. It is very insightful and helps to you to have a list of “I will always…” and “I will never…” statements for your life so that you can move forward in your hero's journey knowing you are living according to your principles. 

In the book, it is made clear that challenges are inevitable. It is not a question of whether we will face them, but rather how significant they will be. Obstacles are simply stones in the road, will come in the form of small failures, challenges, or sickness. These experiences teach us resilience and reveal our level of determination. Randy Pausch in his book The Last Lecture said, "The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don't want something badly enough. They are there to keep out the other people." if we keep this in mindset we will be able to move forward through challenges. Larger challenges, referred to as dragons in the book, are presented to us to test our resolve. These obstacles may manifest as internal struggles or serious illnesses, as cancer. Overcoming them is critical in proving our worth and achieving a sense of accomplishment. Defeating a dragon requires applying the lessons learned from previous challenges, and it may seem impossible. However, with determination, we can make it through and be rewarded for our efforts.

In a Field Guide for the Hero's Journey, the importance of remembering one's purpose is heavily emphasized. It is crucial to keep in mind the reason for working hard, being an entrepreneur, and earning money. These efforts should ultimately enable one to help others and become a better person. Such motivation is important to remember on one's journey. For members of the church, paying tithing is just a part of our lives but giving away 10% of our income seems illogical to nonmembers. I know giving service to others with time and finances have brought joy and purpose to my life. A quote from Warren Buffett “Of the billionaires I have known, money just brings out the basic traits in them. If they were jerks before they had money, they are simply jerks with a billion dollars.” Thus, it is essential to cultivate positive characteristics to make the most of resources and contribute to good causes. This book is excellent as it highlights the importance of applying personal growth and resources to positive ends on the journey to becoming a hero.

This book truly is a field guide that I plan to come back to time and time again as I continue through this journey called life. All the lessons taught were great expansions on the principles we learned about during this course and I am very grateful for a tool that has all that learning in one place that can be reviewed time and time again in the future.